Rei Ex Machina
by Antigone2
Summary: Beryl is defeated and the senshi have lost their memory of each other. So why does Rei keep having this feeling that these random girls are important to her somehow? And what does she do about it? Well - what would YOU do?
1. Chapter 1 - Rei

okay two things: first is, this is all jet wolf's fault. so blame her._**  
**_

second of all: sorta AU where Ail&En never happen, the girls don't regain their memories through Luna's special forehead powers after they lose them in Classic. This happens a month or two after the events of episodes 45 and 46.

oh wait three things: this is already half-way completed and planned to the end. so new parts will be coming fast.

It's my first ever Rei-centered fic. I tried.

* * *

_**Prologue:**_

_Five soldiers who were also young girls fell, one by one, in the fight against a great evil. They won at forfeit of their lives. The last one to close her eyes, ancient princess and accidental warrior, sent a wish out into the universe. To be released from this burden. To be carefree again. For her and her friends to return to their lives as ordinary schoolgirls._

_The wish was granted in a flash of immense power from the crystal that was her only heritage from her destroyed kingdom. The girls were brought back to their previous lives, ordinary and normal and scattered and separated and with no memories of the battle, their deaths, or each other._

_In hindsight, the princess should have been more specific._

* * *

**Chapter 1: Rei**

The sun was too bright. And the sky too blue. And her sleep last night too short.

Still, Rei Hino sat gracefully, with a tight, professional smile on her face while the schoolgirls in front of her squealed over the colorful charms, amulets and plaques the Hikawa Shrine offered for sale.

"Oh my gosh, Naru look!"

Rei repressed a cringe as the high-pitched, girly voice ignited a small but significant pounding under her right temple.

"They have SO MANY!" the girl continued to squeal, clapping her hands and bouncing a little on her feet. Her red-headed companion giggled in response, but remained calmer in the face of her exuberant friend.

"C'mon Usagi, do you even have any allowance money left?"

The loud girl, Usagi, seemed to deflate at the question. "Well-" she dug through her schoolbag, "I think I have just enough for one?"

It took Rei a second to realize that the girl was looking at directly at her, hand held out with a jumble of coinage.

_She wants me to count her change for her? _Rei thought incredulously, but found herself counting and answering that the girl could afford one small charm.

For a second their eyes met, sharp hazel eyes into unassuming blue ones. Usagi blinked. Rei looked down.

"Get one for grades," Naru suggested and Usagi reacted swiftly with scorn that made Rei bristle in spite of herself.

"Are you serious!? No way! Grades are not the most important thing in life you know!"

Considering the math skills she had shown earlier, Rei privately thought that a charm for good grades was probably a better bet. But, it was her job, so she packaged the pink charm for Finding Love and handed it to the schoolgirl with a polite, but dismissive, farewell.

It was only as the girls left, Usagi's twin pigtails bouncing down the shrine steps, that Rei felt a shiver down her spine. A few strands of glossy black hair rose in the evening breeze, and she heard her two crows cawing as they circled the sky.

"Good for nothing Yuuichiro!" Rei snapped, looking over to the open lattice on the far side of the room. "I told him to close this!" She ran her hands down her arms, dismissing the shiver as a chill caused by the open sliding door, and stomped out to find her assistant and yell at him.

After a cathartic lecture to Yuuichiro, and a peaceful dinner, Rei settled down with the newest volume of her favorite manga and ended up falling asleep in a relatively good mood.

It wouldn't last.

She woke up the next day feeling annoyed. This was unusual. Usually Rei woke up in a fine mood, and it took at least part of the day for any grouchiness to build.

But there was something ringing in her ears. The echo of a dream she quickly forgot. Sighing, she bent to pick up the manga she had fallen asleep reading and froze.

On the last page, there was a small smudge in the top corner. Appalled, Rei put the book close to her face and examined the offending mark. She scratched at it, wrinkling her nose. "Chocolate? But I would _never_..."

Rei pulled volume after volume down her shelf, examining each closely and with mounting confusion. She'd never bend the spines this much. She'd never use the flaps as bookmarks. She'd never..._ even read this one yet!_

"YUUICHIRO!" Rei burst into his room, ignoring his cries of protest and embarrassment as he tried to cover up his purple pajama pants. "Have you been READING MY MANGA?!"

The day only got worse from there. Yuuichiro swore up and down he never touched Rei's manga, or even set foot in Rei's room, and Rei grudgingly had to admit she believed him. Her grandpa had a similar mystified reaction.

She was late to school, did poorly on a test, and halfway into the day, the buckle on her shoe broke.

Even worse on home from school, she saw the pig-tailed girl from yesterday walking along the opposite side of the street, a small black cat pattering along behind her.

"I'll see her again," Rei whispered out loud, not sure where the prediction came from, but knowing it was true. Whether she wanted to or not.

"Curse my luck," the priestess muttered, at the stomach-dropping feeling that she -for some reason- wanted to.

* * *

tbc in Chapter 2: Ami


	2. Chapter 2 - Ami

This chapter is really short but they get longer after this. Also Usagi gets a bigger role because. Hi, my name is Antigone2 you may know me from such fics as, well, Everything Else I Wrote starring Tsukino Usagi no 1 role.

* * *

Chapter 2: Ami

_It has to start with Ami._

Rei ran that thought in her head like a mantra as she ate breakfast, having woken up with that sentence on the tip of her tongue with no determinable reason why. She decided she'd have to consult the fire later that evening to see what - if anything- was causing the strange feelings she'd been having. Sighing, she flipped the page of the local daily paper and froze at a headline on the middle of page._  
_

MIZUNO AMI YOUNGEST WINNER OF NATIONAL EDUCATION GRANT

The rest of the article didn't have any useful information on the girl herself, but Rei still folded it up and put in her schoolbag. If there was some cosmic reason the gods wanted her to find someone named Ami, the chances were pretty good they meant the smartest girl in the area. Right?

"Not that this whole thing isn't stupid," she muttered to herself as she left the shrine and headed toward her school, "and probably nothing."

"Juuban Public Middle School?" Rei frowned at the students streaming from the gates. She recognized the uniform. Of course she did, after all, she lived in Juuban Ward, this was the local school uniform, there is no reason she shouldn't feel a jolt at the blue and white sailor-suits the girls wore all around her. "Get a grip, Hino," she chided herself.

Just then, the same pig-tailed girl from yesterday - Usagi- exited the school, walking slowly and alone this time. She passed Rei without a glance and Rei saw the charm she had bought yesterday hanging off her school bag. Rei followed Usagi with her eyes until she noticed the small black cat meet Usagi at the school gates. Usagi knelt and ran her hand over the cat's head affectionately. Suddenly Usagi looked up and Rei turned her head toward the school again.

"Focus," she said to herself. When she glanced back, almost involuntarily, Usagi was gone.

Technically people weren't supposed to walk right into a school they didn't attend and march through the halls like they owned the place.

But people weren't Hino Rei.

She found Ami gathering her things by the 8th grade lockers, shoes in hand.

"Mizuno Ami?" Rei asked, and introduced herself. Ami returned the greeting in kind, eying Rei's pressed TA Academy uniform with apprehension.

"Thank you very much for your interest in me," Ami said, right after introductions were over, "but I believe I've told your school representative that I'm quite happy here at Juuban."

"My scho-" Rei blinked and looked down at herself and then back up at Ami. "Oh," she said quickly, "Well. I thought maybe we could chat a little and maybe you'd change your mind?"

Ami slipped on her shoes and shrugged her school satchel over one shoulder. "I don't think so. Excuse me."

Rei followed Ami out of the school and to the main gates of the property.

"C'mon let's just," Rei thought fast, how did one usually start up a conversation? And why did she suddenly, desperately, not want Ami to walk away from her? She was at a loss.

"Perhaps if you just let me buy you tea," Rei found herself blurting out.

Ami turned and looked at Rei for a long moment. "Um," Ami took a step back, "I appreciate the invitation but... no thank you."

"I'm not a representative for TA! I just go there!" Rei called, running a few steps to catch up with Ami.

Ami turned and looked at Rei with a strange expression in her blue eyes.

"I- I, um, I work at Hikawa Shrine! Actually, I live there. With my grandfather? So if you ever need to come wish or buy a charm- please, um, come see me! Okay? Anytime!" Rei's mouth seemed to working without her mind's permission. _What are you doing?! _she screamed at herself internally.

Ami, for her part, just smiled, nodded and hurriedly walked away.

Rei watched her go and resisted the urge to stamp her foot on the ground like a child.

Finally, she turned to head home and started as she noticed the black cat again, perched on a nearby wall and watching her with intense feline eyes.

* * *

toldya it was short.


	3. Chapter 3 - That Darn Cat

**Chapter 3: That Darn Cat**

The next week or so was uneventful. Ish.

Rei pushed all strange vibes and flashes of meaning out of her mind and just tried to live her daily life as normally and methodically as she could. With one minor difference - she avoided consulting the fire. Not because she was nervous about it would show, of course not as that would ludicrous, but just because she needed some more sleep and had to study more for school.

Of course, having a normal, regular, no-strange-things-happening life would be so much easier if that little black cat didn't keep showing up around the shrine.

At first Rei pretended not to notice her, but soon she became to common a fixture that Rei just went with it. She sometimes found herself talking to Luna, like the way she'd talk to Phobos and Demos, only she often caught herself pausing as if she expected the cat to talk _back to her._

By the third or fourth time that happened Rei started to get unnerved. It even entered her dreams, vividly. The cat -Luna?- at the shrine, giving advice with a childish but determined voice. A ring of fire bursting through two ugly, evil eyes. _Mars Power Make U-_

Rei woke up with a start and marched out of bed in her bare feet and pajamas. She was determined to get some answers.

But the cat was nowhere to be found. And she didn't come back.

Well, Rei was nothing if not a problem solver. And a problem this had become.

She knew whose cat that was, after all. Rei grit her teeth, tossed her hair, and proceeded to consult the Tokyo White Pages for the family name she had heard some classmates call out to Usagi at Juuban.

* * *

When a pretty woman with a kind smile answered the door at the Tsukino residence, Rei was taken aback. She wasn't sure what she expected, but guessed she tended to forget that most girls her age wouldn't answer their own doors. That people had mothers and fathers and bedtimes and schedules and people who would question why a stranger they never met was standing on their front stoop asking for their teenage daughter.

"I'm Hino Rei," Rei said, figuring the truth couldn't hurt. "I'm here as Usagi's um... tutor?" and quickly abandoned the entire 'truth' idea after remember Naru's advice that Usagi buy the 'grades' charm at the shrine.

This time, her TA Uniform helped immensely, as Tsukino Ikuko happily invited Rei in and introduced herself. "Oh, I'm surprised to see you. Usagi has been through quite a few tutors so... I mean, not that she's... a bad girl, just a... disinterested student... anyway, ha ha ha ha! well, you'll see! Usagi! You have a visitor!"

Usagi wasn't at all upset that Rei had entered her home under false pretenses. She was just relieved Rei wasn't, actually, a tutor. Also, she thought Rei was the prettiest girl she'd ever seen up close and was she sure she wasn't a model? And she just loved the Hikawa Shrine and especially at matsuri time.

Rei learned all of this within the first few minutes of meeting Usagi officially. She tried to stop her eyebrow from twitching.

"So, really, Tsukino-san-"

"Oh call me Usagi! And I can call you Rei, right Rei-chan?" Usagi clasped her hands together and continued to look at Rei, in her crisp uniform, as if she was practically star-struck.

Rei felt strange. Not being in the room of a girl she had just met, searching after cat she thought might be giving her weird dreams. No, that wasn't what was niggling in the back of Rei's mind. This wasn't how she and Usagi usually related to each other...

_Wait. What?_ Rei shook her head and tried to change the subject.

"Oh, you like manga?" Rei found herself saying, reaching out for one of Usagi's copies of _Candy, Candy. _

That was the right thing to say, Usagi had a lot of strong opinions on certain characters and plots and obviously spent more time obsessing over the latest shoujo plot twist than tomorrow's geography quiz.

Rei tried not reign in her horror as Usagi bent the manga wide open to show a certain scene she liked, tried not to eye the folded pages of Usagi's favorite scenes and shutter at the doodles in the margins of the page. Something sparked in her memory-

"Usagi! Can you come down and help me fold a sheet?" At her mother's request, Usagi apologized and ran down the hall, leaving Rei alone in her room.

And finally allowing Rei to notice the little black ball curled on the bottom of the bed.

"A-ha!" She cried, pulling the cat up by it's belly.

"Mrrewww!" the cat protested, jumping away and - Rei swore - glaring. She began to delicately link one paw.

"Where have you been?!" Rei found herself demanding, hands on hips, lips tugged in a frown as if she was berating Yuuchiro again. "And why have you been following me? Hmmm?!" She narrowed her eyes and waited for response. The cat just eyed her. At that moment, Rei was sure, _sure, _that the cat at something to tell her.

"Well! Answer me!"

"Yeah, Luna, don't be rude, answer her," Usagi said from the doorway.

Rei turned and stared at Usagi who looked back at Rei with a deadpan expression.

Then she dissolved into giggles, practically falling onto the floor. "Oh my god, that was_ so funny! _Do you always try to talk to animals?" Usagi continued to laugh as Rei picked up her school bag and stalked to the door.

"I'll be going now," Rei said.

"Oh don't be mad!" Usagi called after her, padding down the hall in her stocking feet to follow Rei to the door.

"I'm not mad," Rei muttered.

"Okay!" Usagi said, and clapped her hands together a little. "See you soon Rei-chan! I'm so glad we are friends now!"

Rei bit back a scowl.

* * *

But Usagi, apparently, meant it. She showed up at the shrine with the newest volume of a manga she knew Rei enjoyed and tried to get her to discuss it, even though Rei was busy sweeping.

She followed Rei into the main hall, jabbering about Luna and if she was still bothering Rei Usagi could keep her inside more.

The next day, Usagi bounced right into Rei's room and helped herself to an orange from the bowl on the table and complimented Rei's decorative style.

Rei just balled her hands into fists and smiled tightly.

The next day, Usagi didn't come by and Rei chose to interpret the heavy feeling in her chest as relief.

The next day was Friday, and Rei was meeting Usagi for a soda at this fruit parlor she liked. Rei did not remember agreeing to it, but somehow it was settled, and somehow she still found herself walking to Juuban Middle School to meet with Usagi.

Outside the school, she saw Mizuno Ami, quietly leaving school with her head down.

Despite herself, Rei called out to her. Ami looked up, startled. Politely, she greeted Rei and indicted she had to hurry home as she had cram school in an hour.

"An hour?! That's plenty of time!" a jubilant voice broke the awkward pause as Usagi bounded up and greeted Rei enthusiastically. "Rei-chan, you didn't say you knew Mizuno-san! She's, like, the smartest girl in our school!"

Ami flushed.

"C'mon, join us! We really want you to! You have enough time to get a soda, right?" Usagi linked her arm through Ami's, whose flush quickly faded as she paled noticeably.

"We really want you to," Usagi repeated, with a genuine smile. Ami looked at Usagi for a second, and tentatively returned the smile.

Rei tried not to be pissed that Usagi accomplished in under a minute what she tried and failed to do a week earlier, and followed them to the Crown Fruit Parlor.

The next few weeks found Usagi pulling Rei and Ami into a few separate outings, so perky and cheerful the entire time the Rei began to suspect she might be on something. Ami smiled shyly, painful quiet eventually giving way to polite remarks and sometimes a quip so outright hilarious that Rei had to look at her to see if she meant it.

In any case, it was obvious Ami really needed a friend. And Rei - well - Rei was just trying to find out why she felt there was a tangible connection between them, for such different girls.

That was the only reason she continued to see them.

The only reason.


	4. Chapter 4 - Makoto

**Chapter 4: Makoto  
**

While she was spending time with Ami and Usagi, Rei felt more at peace. She was bothered less by strange dreams or unsettled feelings. Sometimes while she was with them, she got hit with a strange sense of deja vu, but that was easy to write off. For now anyway.

Then came the day that Usagi, cheerfully turning and waving goodbye to Ami and Rei outside the Crown Arcade, didn't notice the light on the crosswalk had changed. A bus honked loudly as it barreled down the road directly toward her wide-eyed stare.

Everything happened in slow motion, even Rei's own scream felt like a strangers' ripping from her throat.

And then someone leaped out onto the street grabbed Usagi and jumped, flinging them both to the sidewalk in a heap of arms and legs.

Usagi sat up dizzily, and Ami ran up to check her over and thank the stranger profusely. Usagi's savior looked a little abashed but relieved as she put a long arm behind her shoulder. "Heh, no problem I guess. I mean - I wasn't thinking I just did it, but I'm glad she's okay."

Rei wasn't focusing on their conversation, or the curious eyes of the passerby around them, or even Usagi (once it had been determined she was fine). Rei noticed the heroic girl was Makoto Kino: brown uniform, sparkling green eyes, high pony-tail and all, but dismissed that as well to deal with later.

She was too busy trying to calm her breathing and her heart and steady her spinning mind. As soon as she thought Usagi might be hurt, might die-

Rei remembered.

She remembered _everything_.

"Rei, are you alright?" Ami's voice at her elbow, Rei struggled to remain standing. "Everything's fine now."

"Yeah, it's okay Rei, I'm fine. This girl - Makoto? - yeah, she totally saved me. It was the coolest thing!"

Rei looked at Usagi searchingly. "Usagi-"

Usagi met Rei's eyes and tried to read the tumult behind them. Suddenly, her blue eyes filled with tears and in choked voice she managed: "Rei-"

Rei opened her mouth to comfort, to explain, to help Usagi through her new memories when -

"Rei, look at my chaaaaaarm!" Usagi burst into tears as the remains of her love charm, left in the street, were crushed under yet another pair of tires. "Oh no! I am sure that is gonna bring the worst luck ever!"

* * *

Rei didn't remember how she got out of there, back to the sanctuary of her room, but that was where she found herself, legs up to her chest, eyes serious and angry.

She remembered.

She remembered and she was_ the only one_.

What the _hell._

Well. Well, she'd just have to do something about it, that's what. Find Luna, get some answers, find Makoto again, and track Minako down and get them to remember.

But, she thought, first things first.

"I brought you a new charm. To replace the one that broke." Rei handed Usagi the small package outside the arcade the next day.

Usagi squealed and threw her arms around Rei, who awkwardly attempted to return the hug until Usagi released her and bounced back on the balls of her feet to examine her new treasure.

"Rei-chan, thank you thank you thank you oh my god you are the- HEY!" Usagi cried, her eyebrows pursed in disappointment. "This one is for _grades_!"


	5. Chapter 5 - Recollection

**Chapter 5: Recollection**

It was easier to get to Luna this time, since Rei and Usagi were now friends. Friends _again_, actually, although Usagi didn't know that.

"Luna, can you still talk?" Rei asked Luna the next day, she had come by Usagi's house on the pretense of lending Usagi some manga - and found Luna resting on the Tsukino's front step as she left.

Luna sighed, and looked at Rei with sad eyes.

"I remember you know," Rei said again, softly, making sure to pet Luna's head affectionately, so she looked like just a passerby being kind to a cute little kitty cat. "I remember I'm Sailor Mars."

At that, Luna looked right up and seemed surprised. "Rei!" she said suddenly. "I'm glad you remember. I wondered if you wouldn't be the first."

"So I am the first," Rei sighed, sitting on the steps and putting her head on her crossed arms.

"Well, with your psychic abilities, I thought it was only a matter of time." Luna said. "I was watching you for a while."

Luna explained that, while it seemed like Rei had a vague idea of the past, Luna couldn't risk opening her mouth until she knew for sure.

"It's nice to have someone to talk to again!" Luna said finally, after taking a breath from her explaining. "I mean, there is always Artemis but, heh, you know how it is."

"Why can't you talk to Usagi?" Rei demanded, "and everyone else, for that matter, we just _tell them_ who they are, and what happened? If you think a talking cat would surprise them too much,_ I'll_ tell them!"

Luna smirked, as best as a cat could smirk. "And if, a few weeks ago, someone came up to you and said you were a magical girl called Sailor Mars and you don't remember because your moon princess wished for a normal life, you'd say-?"

Rei scowled. "I'd- yeah, okay I see your point."

Luna purred and bumped her head against Rei's leg. "You'll all be friends again. You'll see. You are halfway there already."

"Well, Luna, _you'll_ see!" Rei stood up and brushed off her skirt, "They are going to remember. I'll_ make_ them remember!"

"Good, I hope you do," Luna said as she padded off, "Usagi's already happier since she met you."

* * *

Besides Rei's memories, another bright point that came from Usagi wandering into traffic like an idiot, was Makoto became their friend. Apparently, Ami and Makoto started spending time together at school, eating lunch together and walking to and from school - while Usagi usually spent that time with Naru or her other friends - and became closer all on their own. Usagi, of course, bounded into the mix with her usual enthusiasm, and whenever Rei met them after school or on weekends, it was usually with some combination of the three of them.

And despite their differences and the fact that they no longer had their senshi past to bind them together, everyone got along really well.

Rei was happy.

But not happy enough.

Firstly, she was keeping an eye out for Minako to one day appear at the arcade, since Rei knew she used to hang out there. Rei was seriously a few days away from just waltzing into Minako's house the same way she had Usagi's. But hoping it wouldn't quite come to that.

In the meantime, it was time for Mission Getting-Everyone-to-Remember (so sue her, it was always Minako who came up with the names for missions).

"So, Makoto," Rei said one day, while they waited for Usagi to arrive at Crown (Ami had juku), "isn't it great how we are all friends now?"

"Uh, sure," Makoto said, giving Rei a strange but not unkind look. "Yeah, it worked out really great."

"How we get along so well, so quickly, it's like - we've meet before." Rei leaned forward, her head on her arms, watching Makoto's green eyes carefully for any spark, any hint of recollection.

"Hmm," Makoto said thoughtfully, leaning back in the booth, "you may be right."

Rei sat up straighter and nodded quickly. "Yes, do you reme-"

"I mean, I knew Usagi and Ami from school," Makoto said, "although not very well, but still. And I probably came by Hikawa Shrine a few times to pray." Makoto grinned, "So yeah, we probably had met before."

Rei deflated just as Usagi ran in, apologizing profusely for her tardiness. Rei didn't even have it in her to chide Usagi the way she usually did.

"Also, I forgot your manga at home! Sorry Rei!" Usagi slid into the booth and helped herself to one of Rei's fries. "What were we talking 'bout?" she said around a mouthful of chewed fries.

Rei just sighed.

* * *

When Aino Minako finally did enter the Crown arcade after school one day, she found herself immediately accosted by a beautiful girl wearing an expensive looking brand-name sun dress.

"Hi! My name is Rei," the girl said, "Will you join me and my friends? Over at that table." She pointed to a group of happy looking girls Minako's age, seated around a table covered in various ice-cream concoctions.

"Uh... Okay!" Minako chirped. "Why not?"

And thus Minako was brought into the fold. Rei patted herself on the back for a job well done.

* * *

Ami, Makoto and Minako all entered the room together, having run into each other on the way to Rei's. They were talking amongst themselves, when suddenly Ami stopped short, a strange expression crossing her face.

"Ami, you okay?" Makoto placed her hand on Ami's shoulder for a moment, looking concerned.

"I'm- fine," Ami blinked and shook her head, a smile settling once again over her features. "I just had the weirdest feeling."

"Like deja vu?" Makoto said, looking around the shrine and at Rei sitting by the fire, staring that them intently.

"Yeah?" Rei said, raising to her feet.

Minako let out a peal of laughter, raising her hand behind her head. "We totally must have come here before."

"Not together though," Rei pressed.

There was a beat. Then Ami shrugged and opened her bookbag as she knelt on the floor. "So, what was that math problem you were having trouble with, Mako-chan?"

The moment was forgotten. And Rei had to stop herself from banging her head against the wall.

* * *

"Has anyone had any weird dreams lately?" Rei took a sip from her tea, abruptly interrupting a detailed description from Minako about her latest crush's new haircut.

The girls exchanged glances. "Well, sorta," Makoto said. "I mean, it's nothing too major. But yeah, sometimes I dream- it's nothing."

"No, tell me," Rei said, a little too sharply.

"Yes, tell," Usagi demanded from around a milkshake straw. "Dreams are cool."

"I dreamt I got stuck by lightening."

"Oh my god, that sounds awful!" Minako said.

"Not really," Makoto said, thoughtfully. "I liked it? I felt... powerful."

Rei's breath caught. "What do you think that_ means_?!"

"Actually, dreams can mean any number of things depending on how you interpret them," Ami spoke up. "There are different schools of thought regarding the psychology of what your subconscious could communicating. Then again, it could just be random neuron firings within the-"

Minako and Makoto listened with some interest while Usagi tilted her milkshake glass up over her face to catch the last few drops. The topic was officially changed.

Rei put her head in her hands.

This was going to be harder than she thought.


	6. Chapter 6- An attempt was made

**Chapter 6: An attempt was made**

Rei considered herself a very patient person.

But this was just getting ridiculous.

It'd been nearly two weeks and she saw at least one of the former senshi almost every day. She'd been dropping so many hints and trying to follow up every topic with an intensity that made the other girls side-eye her almost every time.

But, honestly, what did she have to do?

Draw them a damn picture?!

She was so frustrated she could just scre-

"Hi Rei!" Usagi entered her room without knocking, Luna at her heels. "Just coming to finally return those manga I borrow- hey!"

Rei jumped up and lifted Luna, holding her up and looking at her intently. Usagi tilted her head to the side. "Rei?"

"Tell her," Rei demanded, holding Luna up to Usagi's face, "TELL HER LUNA. JUST TELL HER."

When Luna didn't speak, Rei cried out: **"Usagi. You. Are. Princess. Serenity. Sailor Moon. WHY DON'T YOU REMEMBER?"**

Usagi was still starring at Rei curiously, and Rei realized she hadn't, actually, said those words out loud. She was too scared to. Rei had just gotten Usagi and the girls back in her life, she didn't want to lose them because she was spouting such crazy-sounding nonsense at them.

"Um," Usagi said finally, "maybe put my cat down now?"

Rei swallowed and let Luna down.

There was a short but intense moment of silence. Then Usagi smiled.

"Let's get ice cream!"

* * *

"I know!" Usagi was saying over her triple-brownie-parfait (which, Rei noted, the menu suggested was supposed to feed two), "Like, it was _so_ unfair, I wasn't even that late-" suddenly she froze, and opened the manga she had brought from Rei's and held it up over her face.

"Usagi, are you-"

"Odango atama, if you want to hide from me that's a bad way to do it," a voice said from behind Rei's booth. An unsettlingly familiar voice. "I can still see your hair," the voice continued.

Rei let loose with a stream of vaguely uncharacteristic curse words inside her head. It's not that she had _forgotten_ about Chiba Mamoru, per se, after all they had technically dated for a while there, but it's just that Rei figured she'd take care of everything else _first_ and deal with him after. Or, better yet, let Usagi deal with him once she remembered everything.

Usagi, for her part, had lowered herself down so she was lying on booth on her back, manga dropped over her face completely. "Go away, can't you see I'm _reading_!" She said in a very prim (if muffled voice), not moving the manga from her face.

Mamoru laughed, "Don't hurt yourself, Odango Atama." He turned to leave and Rei felt a little disgruntled at being ignored.

"Hello," she said, pointedly.

Mamoru looked a little surprised to see someone else sitting there, and he greeted Rei politely.

She looked at him curiously. "Have we met before?" she said pointedly.

"I don't think so," he answered, "I'm-"

"Oh my god, get a room!" Usagi's voice was still muffled by the manga on her face, but it was definitely sounding annoyed.

"You better not get spit on my manga, Usagi!" Rei leaned over the table to remove the precious book from Usagi's face, and by the time they had settled that whole thing Mamoru was long gone.

Rei took a breath. He was the prince. He was Tuxedo Kamen. Usagi's, what, One True Love or whatever romantic, epic title you wanted to give it. He was part of this, and Usagi needed to remember him. And everything else, too, but this might be something Rei could... work with...

"So, Usagi," she said, conversationally. "Who was that guy?"

"What guy?" Usagi genuinely looked mystified, her eyes darting around as if looking for the person to whom Rei was referring.

"The... one who was just here talking to you?"

Usagi fixed Rei with a blank look.

"Oh my god." Honestly, she had forgotten how aggravating Usagi could be sometimes. "He called you 'odango atama'?" Rei said.

"Oooooh him," Usagi said, shrugging and paying very close attention to the last bites of ice cream in her dish. "Yeah, I don't know his name but I run into him a lot. He teases me. Anyway, do you want to swing by the bookstore and see if they have the next issue of Margaret?"

* * *

"So I'm gonna get Usagi and Mamoru together," Rei said while sweeping the stone walk of the shrine the next day. "It might help them remember, anyway."

Luna laughed. And Rei grinned despite herself. She had forgotten how adorably amusing it was to see a cat laugh. "Good luck," Luna muttered in a tone that suggested that Rei would definitely need it.

"Hey!" Rei said, resenting the implication that she was anything but utterly brilliant at matchmaking. She had a few boyfriends, she'd read manga, she'd watched movies. Besides, "They are _destined_ for goodness sake, how hard could it _be_?"

Very hard, it turned out. Rei was certain it had nothing to do with her lack of ability but more their total lack of cooperation.

Rei waved Mamoru over to join them a couple of times when he happened to be at Crown the same time they were, but he seemed determined to stand there rather awkwardly making small-talk with the girls while Usagi eyed him suspiciously and he returned her glances challengingly.

Rei's attempts to steer the conversation in certain directions always fizzled away hopelessly until Mamoru, most likely deciding he'd had enough awkwardness for one day, would take his leave (usually with Usagi making faces at his retreating back).

"He's so much worse when you guys aren't here, I swear," Usagi said once after Mamoru finally walked away from their table at crown. "The other day he said that I 'sure do eat an awful lot'. If you can _imagine,_" she said, while shoveling another forkful of cake into her mouth. The girls, wisely, let that drop.

Once, while walking across the park with Usagi, Rei saw Mamoru coming the other way, engrossed in a book. Thinking fast, and getting desperate by this point, she literally shoved Usagi directly _into him _and then stood back and pretended to be shocked that Usagi had stumbled so dramatically. Mamoru, to his credit, caught Usagi pretty deftly and gently steadied her on her feet, but Usagi just screamed at him and ran away.

Rei helped Mamoru retrieve his book, shrugged apologetically at him, and followed Usagi.

Back to the drawing board.

* * *

Later that same day, Ami came to Rei with a strange look on her face and some papers in her hand.

"Rei, there are some things... I can't explain. Do you have a second?"

Rei did. All the seconds in the world.

When Ami was a little girl, she used to hide things behind a loose floorboard in her bedroom. Her mother trusted her, and besides, Ami never had much of anything _to_ hide, but the idea of having a secret place to keep precious things appealed to her. Things like a pretty river stone, or a small toy, or something she drew or... well, sometime she got a postcard or two she'd place in there. She did not elaborate on the postcards and Rei didn't press. She knew already, anyway.

"But," Ami said, "for the past few years I haven't used it. Except, today, for some reason, I decided to look in it and-" The papers Ami spread before Rei were so familiar Rei's eyes burned for a moment. Battle plans. Trajectories and predictions. Weather reports, of all things. Global coordinates. And research - about Tokyo's layout, about alternate dimensions. About the moon.

"This is my handwriting," Ami said, her voice strangely calm, her face focused, like a scientist with a theory. A theory they didn't particularly like.

"Rei," Ami looked at her friend with confused and intense eyes. "What does this mean?"

So Rei told her.

Everything.

She just blurted it all out, every detail.

Ami listened, silent and expressionless and growing more and more pale.

Rei finished, finally, and looked at Ami, almost desperately. "Sailor Mercury-" she said.

Ami just shook her head, looking at Rei with no small amount of apprehension. "No," Ami said, shaking her head still, and standing up. "No, I'm sorry Rei but - none of this makes logical sense."

"Ami-"

"I have to go," Ami stood, seemingly at a loss for a second. She went to pick up the papers and then paused, shook her head and again, and just murmured, "I have to go."

She left quickly and without another word, leaving Rei sitting in the shrine.

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Rei," Luna said, sitting on Rei's lap while Rei pet her.

"You were right," Rei said, sadly. "She reacted badly."

"You must feel so defeated," Luna said.

"No," Rei said, "No, actually." As she spoke she realized it was true, "It just means I _have_ to get her remember. And the others, too." Luna lept off her lab as Rei stood up and pointed up to the heavens. "In the name of Mars, I will make sure they _will_ remember who they are!"

"What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea."

* * *

The next day at the arcade, Rei was relieved to see Ami didn't seem to be angry at Rei at all. Although she must have spoken to Makoto about what Rei said to her the day before, because both girls, while remaining friendly and affectionate toward Rei, also sometimes eyed her warily when they thought she wasn't looking.

After the third time they exchanged glances, Rei blew up. "Okay, I'm sorry I said anything, jeeze! If you two aren't going to remember the truth just go ahead and think I'm crazy, I don't care! I'm through lying!"

Makoto and Ami just starred at Rei, wide-eyed like children caught with their hands in a cookie jar. "I don't know what you are talking about," Makoto offered, looking sheepish.

It was that point Minako danced up to them and put an affectionate arm around Rei, "Don't worry, Rei!" she said, cheerfully. "We love you! We don't care that you are a few nuts short of a squirrel!"

Meanwhile, outside the glass doors of the arcade, Rei saw Usagi and Mamoru in the middle of yet another bickering argument.

Rei rolled her eyes heavenward and willed herself not to scream.


	7. Chapter 7 -Once more for old time's sake

So I was sick then I had no internet and basically blah. Anyway! Feeling better and internet is back. so. back to fic.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Once more for old time's sake**

When Ami and Makoto arrived suddenly at the shrine one day, Rei ushered them in with gusto, heaping on offers of food and drink- which they declined. Instead they sat on Rei's floor, quietly waiting while the priestess settled herself across from them.

For a few moments Makoto and Ami looked at each other, each nodding each other on as if to say 'no, you go'. Finally Ami spoke up.

"Rei, I've been doing a lot of thinking in these past few days. Thinking and research and …talking to Makoto and, well-"

"Talking about how crazy I am," Rei muttered bitterly and Ami blanched and looked guilty.

"No," she said. "Just about the things you said and," here she glanced at Makoto, who nodded gently.

Rei lowered her head and fiercely ignored the burning in her throat and behind her eyes. Here was the part where they said they didn't want to be friends with her anymore. Here was the part they left her all alone.

"We want to listen to you," Ami finished.

Rei's head snapped up in shock to find Ami and Makoto giving her hesitant smiles.

"We think," Makoto said, "we think you are right. About our past."

"There are things that can't be explained any other way-"

"Besides it's damn kickass, if you think about it-"

"So anyway, will you tell us more?" Ami finished, around Makoto's interjection. "I think we are starting to remember. Maybe something you say can jog our memories."

* * *

That night Rei collapsed into bed, exhausted but satisfied. It had been a long, but productive, day. Ami and Makoto listened to Rei's stories with expressions that quickly changed from shocked, to eager, to amazed and back again. But every so often a dreamy look would come into their eyes and they'd finish the story for Rei, or interject things she had forgotten - - and looked surprised as they did so.

They still had a ways to go before they remembered – Ami suggested trying hypnosis next time – but the important thing was that they _believed her._

Rei asked about Minako, and Ami suggested inviting her over and seeing how she'd take the news. Minako tended to handle Rei's not-so-subtle hints and Ami's recent questions with a carefree attitude that kept her real feelings a mystery.

As for Usagi, Ami tentatively suggested they hold off. Rei didn't know whether her suggestion came from some buried part of her that remembered how much Usagi craved a normal life, or was the result of observing Usagi's more recent reactions to any mentions of weird memories or dreams (usually to laugh it off and change the subject immediately). Maybe it was both. For now, though, Rei was taking things one step at a time.

Ami.

Makoto.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

Rei was happy to see Minanko cheerfully bounding up the temple steps with Makoto and Ami that weekend. Artemis tagged along at the blonde's heels, and Rei couldn't help grinning and waving at him – not caring how strange it might have looked. Luna was already at the shrine, standing proudly by Rei's feet. She also smiled at Artemis, but neither of them spoke. Rei wondered if they were holding off, so as not to shock anyone needlessly.

Rei had been handling this entire thing with an immeasurable amount of grace, if she did say so herself. The unexpected memories, finding and scrutinizing her old friends, all handled like a pro.

However, Rei had to admit she handled it much less gracefully when Minako plopped down on Rei's bed and blurted out, "So you guys finally remember us all being senshi! That's so cool!"

"What?!" Rei snapped, wondering if she could wring Minako's neck and still be considered her friend. Ami and Makoto reacted only slightly less surprised, Rei wondered if they suspected Minako knew more than she let on.

"How long have you known?" Rei cried out, "You just went on letting everyone think I was crazy?!"

Minako giggled, "That would have been funny, but no." She sobered up and looked at Rei compassionately. "Artemis told me a couple days ago."

"Artemis!" Luna snapped at the white cat, who looked abashed.

"I—got lonely," he muttered, poking at the carpet with his paw.

"Lonely my-" Luna began to lecture then froze as she saw two pairs of bemused eyes watching her intently.

"Oh yes," Luna ahem'ed gracefully into a paw, "we speak, as I am sure you are aware."

"I'm surprised at how little I'm surprised," Ami murmured to Makoto, who nodded silently.

"Anyway," Minako said cheerfully, "you don't have to yell at Artemis, Luna, 'cuz it's good news! We all remember now and –"

"Wait," Ami said, a familiar scientist-gleam in her blue eyes, "how, exactly, did you come to remember everything Artemis told you?"

Minako blinked at Ami and answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I transformed of course."

It took a while to pick Rei and the cats off the floor. "It's so obvious!" Luna cried, "Why didn't I think of it?"

Rei stood up, locked her door and looked at the girls steadily. She took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and shouted the words that reverberated from within her soul. "Mars Power – Make UP!"

It was so achingly, perfectly familiar. The burning from her middle, surrounding her body with purpose, with power, with _belonging. _ She was Sailor Mars just as much as she was Hino Rei. She thought she remembered before. Now, as her fuku settled upon her, she felt everything return with the force of a landslide. She stood looking at the others with a look of utter astonishment on her face.

"Welcome back," Minako said simply. Rei had to fight tears.

Ami and Makoto followed suit, shouting the phrases Rei had taught them. Rei could see from their faces – the astonishment, awe, and eyes that were filled with tears that were both happy and sad – that it had all come back to them, too.

Suddenly Sailor Mars found herself engulfed in a tearfilled group hug, with Sailor Mercury, Sailor Jupiter, Aino Minako and – somehow – two cats. All she knew was: she never wanted to let go.

* * *

_" but hey antigone wtf happened to the funny that was promised to me by the 'humor' genre tag you used on ff dot net?"_


	8. Chapter 8 - Wanted: One Princess

**Chapter 8- Wanted: One Princess**

"Usagi," Sailor Mars said finally.

The others released their grips on each other and sat back down, the mood dampened. Rei let her fuku fade back to her miko robes, and watched as Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mercury sparkled and shimmered back into Makoto and Ami, who were sharing sad expressions.

"Sorry but. We need her too," Rei said, looking at Luna for back-up.

"Of course," Minako said, "there is no doubt we need Usagi in our lives."

"We _have_ Usagi in our lives," Ami said. "I think the question here is – do we need her to remember?"

"I don't know," Makoto said, quietly. "She's been through so much. And she never wanted this- any of it."

"None of us wante-" Rei started to say, but stopped herself. Had she really not wanted Sailor Mars? Had she not spent so many nights wondering if she had some higher purpose, if the reason for her powers and struggles and loneliness culminated into something bigger than herself? Hadn't Sailor Mars been the answer to all her most secret of wishes? Not for the fighting and the death and sacrifice, of course not. But the purpose and the power and the love –

Did Usagi really want none of that? Not want it so badly she used her crystal to create a world without it as her dying wish?

Rei shook her head and tried to focus on the conversation going on around her.

"I think we need to protect her," Makoto was saying. "That's our job. If that means letting her be happy for now-"

"But can she truly be happy without knowing her true self?" Ami said. "What she is capable of, who she really is – who Tsukino Usagi can _really be_-" Ami was silent. "I am perhaps projecting."

"Perhaps, but I think you are right anyway," Luna said. "She needs to know who she is. She is so much more than she believes herself to be right now. It's about growing up."

"How did you all _feel _when you transformed again?" Minako said, finally.

The others fell silent. Rei knew they felt similar things as she did. Completion. Understanding. Connection. Usagi needed Sailor Moon as much as Rei needed Sailor Mars. Rei was suddenly sure of it.

"Usagi needs to remember," Rei found herself saying. To her surprise, the others agreed.

* * *

Tsukino Usagi skipped into Rei's and skidded to a halt. "Um. Hi everyone?"

Rei, Minako, Ami and Makoto sat in a semi-circle facing the door, Luna and Artemis perched on either side.

"What's going on?" Usagi asked, titled her head to the side. "I thought I was just meeting Rei. Not that I'm not happy to see you all but-"

"Usagi," Minako said seriously, "there is something we need you to do."

Usagi looked at Minako warily. "I'm not… so good at 'doing things'…"

"It's important," Ami said, "and I know when it's important you'd never let anyone down." Her sweet smile did nothing to sway the strange expression on Usagi's face.

"Is this about my grades?" she asked, clearly ready to bolt.

"No, no no," Makoto said, "nothing so terrible as that."

She and Minako shared a laugh, Ami sent a side-eye in their direction but didn't say anything.

"Just say 'Moon Prism Power Make Up'," Rei said, sick of all this beating around the bush.

"What?" Usagi looked at Rei as if she had grown another head. "Why though? Are we practicing English?" She shot Ami a suspicious look, as if this had all secretly been her idea of a study session.

"Just say it!" Rei snapped.

"O-kay." Usagi gave Rei a weird look, then shrugged and said, "Moon Prism Power Make up! Are you happy now?"

The other exchanged glances and Usagi looked at them, her expression bright and cheerful. "Later Naru and me are gonna do karaoke, you should join us if you want!"

* * *

"Why didn't it work?" Rei was miserable, and not just because she sat through two hours of Naru and Usagi belting out love songs between 1200 yen glasses of virgin mudslides.

"I am not sure," Ami said, rubbing her temple. The flashing lights in the private karaoke room had not been ideal for studying kanji, she was starting to get a headache. The bright florescent lighting of the Crown Fruits Parlor didn't help. "Perhaps it's because Makoto and I already were starting to remember on our own?"

"We'll figure it out!" Makoto said. She was still in a pretty good mood, karaoke had been a good time and she got to do a duet with Minako that was really fun. "Luna, you live with Usagi. Have you noticed her acting strangely at all?"

Luna sighed. "I know she has dreams. That's it."

"Hmm," Ami said, "Maybe we should brainstorm. Luna, tell us about the very first time Usagi transformed."

"A youma was attacking Osa-P jewelery store and I told her she was Sailor Moon, and told her how to transform— but that time when she said Moon Prism Power Make Up, it worked."

"Could it be because she's missing the brooch or the crystal?" Makoto suggested.

"No," Ami said, "I have reason to believe the crystal is housed within her, based on energy readings – I think it's sort of her lifeforce. It's hard to explain but-"

"No, I believe you," Makoto said quickly, raising her hands and sweatdropping, "no need for a deeper explanation."

"Anyway," Luna continued, "She didn't want to fight, but Naru was in trouble-"

"Well there you go!" Minako said, "we'll just dress up as a crazy monster and attack Naru!"

"Minako-"

"What could _possibly_ go wrong with that idea?" Minako huffed.

"We are not terrorizing Naru," Ami snapped, "and we are not dressing up like a monster."

"Fine, whatever," Minako grabbed the straw from her soda and chewed on it loudly. "Well, anyway, Luna was the one who told her to awaken as Sailor Moon. The Princess thingy she did on her own."

"That's true," Ami said. "Princess Serenity awoke of her volition, perhaps-"

"We could always recreate those circumstances," Minako said, helpfully. "Who is up for stabbing Mamoru?"

"_Minako_-"

"Not _fatally,_" Minako said, exasperated. "Just like. I mean, Ami, you are gonna be a doctor I bet you know how to stab someone so you don't hit any vital organs."

"I'm not stabbing Mamoru," Ami said, primly, not looking up from her notes.

"Good god do I have to do _everything _around here?" Minako said. "Okay, I'll stab Mamoru."

"Nobody is stabbing anybody!" Luna cried, finally.

"Fine," Minako muttered, sending Makoto a wink. "We'll call that Plan B."

Ami, Minako and Makoto were still in a conversation about some ideas that _didn't_ involve assault and battery, when Rei just had enough.

Rei threw her hands up in exasperation. "C'mon, how can Usagi_ not_ want to be part of this?"

"She is, though," Luna pointed out. "She already has you guys as friends, and that makes her very happy. As far as Usagi is concerned, perhaps she has everything she needs."

Rei shook her head, and crossed her arms, suddenly feeling grouchy. "Not you. Not Mamoru. Not Artemis. Not _even herself_."

"I'm gonna get her back, Luna," Rei said, her gaze suddenly intense. "I will definitely get through Tsukino Usagi's impossibly thick head and show her who she really is."

* * *

ps. nobody gets stabbed, terrorized or generally assaulted in the coming chapters

pps. although Minako still maintains it wasn't that bad an idea

ppps. ya know, if it came to that


	9. Chapter 9 - Fifth Wheel

**Chapter 9: Fifth Wheel  
**

"Did you get it?" Rei asked as Luna padded into the shrine with a look of annoyance in her eyes. She was holding a small bag in her mouth which Rei quickly reached out to take.

"Just so you know," Luna said, working her jaw, "that thing is heavier than it looks."

"Well, I appreciate it," Rei said, opening the bag and removing the item gingerly. "Do you think she'll miss it?"

Luna thought for a second. "I don't know. It'd be interesting to see if she remembers it at all. Or if it even still plays for her."

Rei held the star-shaped locket up to the light. Even up close the hinge which opened the music box was invisible. Rei sometimes wondered how Usagi got it to play, if she willed it so or if the locket simply decided on it's own.

"Well, in any case, I'm hoping to use this to get her to remember."

"So are you going to give it to her?" Luna asked, "and say, what, 'I found this buried in your desk drawer. By accident'."

Rei gave Luna a sarcastic look. "_No_," she said. "I have a better idea."

* * *

"Hey can you do me a favor?" Rei was beyond greetings and politeness with Mamoru. If he didn't remember they used to be close enough to use casual language with each other, that was, frankly, his problem.

She didn't wait for him to answer one way or the other. Rei knew the trick was to catch him at his most unguarded and force obligations _onto_ him. Maybe she'd share that tidbit with Usagi, if she was feeling generous. Then again, Usagi would probably figure that out for herself soon enough.

"Can you give this to Usagi for me?" She put the bag into his hands and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Mamoru called out, and Rei stopped and rolled her eyes. 'Damn, not quick enough-'

"What do you mean 'give this to Usagi', don't you see her more than I do? Why do I-"

"I'm really busy and I don't really have time for all your questions," Rei said, quickly, tossing a swath of glossy black hair over her shoulder. She walked swiftly toward the arcade doors and took off running as soon as she was out of sight.

"Smooth," Luna said, from Rei's shoulder bag. Rei shot her a look.

"I can't wait until you get Usagi back," Rei muttered. "Then you can start nagging_ her_ for a change."

Luna made a face that indicated very clearly that her lack of being able to nag Usagi was really starting to grate on her as well.

* * *

Rei had just been back home for enough time to change into her robes when a familiar figure can running up the steps of the shrine.

Rei was about to retreat into the shrine when she saw the locket in Mamoru's hand and the look of horrified realization coloring his face.

Rei bit back a smile, and looked at him innocently with raised eye brows. "What's the matter? Did you_ forget_ something, Mr. Chiba?"

"Rei-" he was still catching his breath, but it was clear the locket had returned at least _one_ person's memories.

_Well,_ Rei thought, as went to go prepare tea for Mamoru, who looked like he was going to collapse with shock. _I guess it's better than nothing._

* * *

"So you didn't show this to her then?" Rei said, swinging the locket from her fingers thoughtfully.

"What am I going to say? 'Rei gave this to me and she found it in your room accidentally'?" Mamoru said.

Rei frowned at him. "You know, I didn't help you remember so you could rain all over my plans."

"You didn't-"

"We're heee-ree!" Minako's cheery voice preceded her as she ran up the steps with her hands full of crepes.

"Here ya go," she said, handing one to Rei. "And you," she held one out to Mamoru, whose attempts to wave her off were futile.

Ami and Makoto followed Minako in, with a crepe in each of their hands.

"So," Minako said, sitting down across from Mamoru with a serious expression on her face. "Where do we even _start_?"

It didn't take as much effort as Rei thought it would, to bring Mamoru up to speed. Say what you wanted about the man, he was pretty quick on the uptake. Ami, at least, seemed pleased to have him on their side. Probably because he understood all the big words she used during her part of the explanation.

"You know," Minako said, licking her lips and crumbling her crepe wrapper into a ball, "You probably don't even need Usagi to remember, if you want to be with her. I'm going to go ahead and assume you do?" Mamoru barely had time to nod because Minako was talking again, "You do have money, an apartment and car." She paused to look him up and down with a critical eye. "And I suppose some girls would say you are good-looking."

"Minako, maybe this isn't the time for-" Ami started but as usual nothing short of a natural disaster would stop Minako, especially not Mamoru's increasingly uncomfortable expression.

"I mean, Usagi is a pretty typical girl. Just go up and be all suave - you can do that right? Channel some Tuxedo Kamen I heard she really dug that guy - and be all, 'Hey'," she lowered her voice at the last word and raised an eyebrow in what she apparently thought was a seductive manner.

"Minako, seriously-"

"And then you can wax poetic about her beauty and flowers and whatever you do... apologize for teasing her all the time," Minako clasped her hands together and leaned against Makoto's shoulder. "And then, those three magic words," she spread her hands wide and sighed dreamily. "'Dinner's on me.'"

"Are you done?" Rei asked. "Because I would like to talk about something_ useful_ now? Like getting Usagi to remember."

"Hey, talking about the devil," Minako said, suddenly, pointing to where Usagi was making her way up the shrine steps, a few volumes of Rei's manga in her hands.

"Hey Rei, I have your-" Usagi trailed off, looking around the garden in confusion and no small amount of hurt. "oh, I didn't realize… everyone was already hanging out." She looked at the wrappers in her friends' hands. "With crepes." The betrayal was complete.

Then her eyes landed on Mamoru and she blinked in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" she blurted out.

Makoto elbowed Mamoru in the shoulder, "You're staring," she muttered.

"I- just stopped by," he finally said.

Rei took her manga out of Usagi's hands, "It's not-".

"Not what?" Usagi said, still looking a little hurt.

"We are really happy to see you," Ami jumped in, with a smile.

Usagi still looked unsure. "I didn't realize you were such good friends with them," she said to Mamoru.

He stood up and ran his hand through his hair nervously. "I can go if you want me to."

Usagi shook her head quickly, as if clearing it. "No, no it's okay – actually, I just came to return those manga and I have somewhere to be…"

"Hot date?" Minako asked from her perch on the steps, sending Mamoru a sly look.

Usagi, for her part, thought that was funniest thing she'd heard in a long time and it took a while to get her breath back from laughing so hard. "Oh my gosh, no way! I'm meeting Naru and Umino for cake."

"Oh, so you are crashing _their _hot date," Minako said.

Usagi froze and her smile faded from her face. "I—didn't think of it that way."

"Minako!" Makoto snapped. "Usagi, I'm sure they want you there. After they invited you along."

Usagi still looked a little dazed. "Yeah-, you know… I don't even remember them getting together," she put her hand to her head and looked confused for a second.

"Forget something?" Rei asked, eagerly.

Minako stood behind Mamoru and made stabbing motions with her hand, 'say the word', she mouthed at Rei. Ami kicked Minako's foot and gave her a Look.

Usagi suddenly giggled nervously and shook her head again, "Yes, I had forgotten we have a math quiz tomorrow but I'll _totally _study tonight after I see Naru!" She paused and looked at her friends one more time, a small dent in her brow. Then she smiled largely. "Well, see you guys."

They called their farewells and then exchanged shrugs and 'what can you do' faces.

"That girl is officially hopeless," Rei muttered.


	10. Chapter 10 - Rabbit of the Moon

I'm so sorry for the delay in this! I had it planned and half written and then I got kinda sick and I've been feeling crappy for weeks and weeks. But finally I'm doing a little better and can write again so here we go.

The final end!

Now I'm a little worried the comedy will fall falt with all this build up (it was unintentional! I meant to have this part out sooner!) but c'est la vie. ;)

**Chapter 9: Rabbit of the Moon**

Rei sighed and flopped her head into her arms with a groan. "I'm going to kill her."

"Well, that would be an efficient, but ultimately self-defeating plan," Ami said, not looking up from her book.

Minako elbowed Makoto who shot a look back at her and they had a short and intense whispered argument.

"You do it," Minako hissed.

"She'd take it better coming from the leader," Makoto shot back under her breath.

"She's less likely to try to fight you," Minako said, elbowing Makoto again until the brunette sat straight and gave Rei's withering glance a sweatdropping smile.

"Rei, I was thinking... it may be time to admit defeat."

Rei raised an eyebrow. Makoto looked desperately to Minako.

"Yeah, Rei, I mean. Usagi may not have all her memories but she's back hanging out with us, isn't she? None of your... our, I mean our!... plans have worked even a little bit and-"

"What she's trying to say," Ami jumped in before Rei's eyebrow twitch got any more violent. "is it may be best to let Usagi come to terms with everything on her own time."

"Yeah," Minako said, brightly. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained after all-"

"Minako that is the exact opposite of what we are trying to-"

"What?"

"Never mind."

"No, tell me..."

The conversation lifted from the usual hushed tones the girls used while discussing senshi business at Crown, and Rei ignored it.

It was true - every time they tried to get Usagi to remember she brushed it off with a nonchalant manner that infuriated Rei. If Usagi looked upset, or worried, or like she didn't want to remember - that was one thing. And something Rei could certainly understand.

But no, it rather seemed like Usagi was just blissfully ignorant, prancing around Juuban eating crepes and failing tests and tripping on sidewalk cracks, with no idea of who she is.

It really was just starting to piss Rei off.

"Rei," it was Ami's voice that brought Rei back to earth. "What do you think?"

Rei blinked and sighed at the girls all looking at her expectantly. "Fine," she huffed. "I'll let it go."

For now.

* * *

It was within the next few days that everyone was over at Rei's, laying on the rug, sitting delicately on the floor, leaning up against the wall, or in Usagi's case, sprawled on her friend's bed reading manga.

"HA HA HA! Oh my god, you guys," Usagi shifted up and bent the volume back to show the page more clearly, "Look at what is happening in this scene there is like a talking cat and this superhero girl and - -"

Suddenly she stopped and the manga fell to the floor as Usagi looked blankly at the wall with a familiar look of dawning comprehension.

"Oh."

"My."

"God."

The celebrations of everyone hugging Usagi and crying out with delight as she was frantically recounting their more memorable escapades at cursed amusement parks and couples cruises, was interrupted with Rei's shout.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

Everyone froze mid-hug and turned to look at Rei, who was red-faced and glaring, smoke practically coming out of her ears. "After everything we've done, and everything we've tried," her voice was dangerously calm and Usagi looked at her with almost curious trepidation, "After all that. You remember. From. A PARODY SCENE IN A MANGA?! JUST HOW STUPID ARE YOU I CAN'T-"

"Rei you are so meeeeaaaan!" Usagi wailed.

"I'm mean? _I'm mean_? Whose the one who has been put through the ringer for the past month-"

"REIII STOPP YELLING AT MEEEE!"

And so their voices echoed throughout the shrine and the other girls just shared looks. "This is gonna be a loooong lifetime." Minako said under her breath.

* * *

"Okay, who brought the popcorn!"

"No popcorn!"

"Reeeeeei you can't have a movie without popcorn!"

"I don't need to hear your chewing while the movie is going and then if something scary happens you spit popcorn bits all over the screen."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do no-"

"Hey, Usagi," Makoto sat down on her sofa and picked up the remote, "How about some dango instead? I just picked some up from the sweet shop this afternoon. We'll do popcorn later."

Usagi seemed happy with the replacement and gleefully took the treats from Makoto, who in turn accepted a grateful look from Ami.

"So what movie are we watching?" Minako asked, bouncing next to Usagi on the sofa.

"It was Ami's turn to pick-" the girls stifled groans, "so I think this is a docu-drama about the plight of killer bees."

"Bees?"

"_Killer_ bees, though," Ami said, "I thought you guys would think that was cool."

"If it's a giant killer bee attacking Tokyo, that might be cool."

"Minako, we've probably seen that already, _in real life_."

"I don't think we ever fought a giant bee."

"Can we veto the movie choice? Makoto, what do you own here?"

"Uh," Makoto flushed. "Just... romances mostly."

Rei and Ami groaned while Minako and Usagi squealed.

Makoto went to dig through her tapes, while Minako rounded on Usagi with a predatory look in her eye.

"So. Speaking of romance."

Usagi looked at Minako around a mouthful of mochi. "Muwha?"

"Diiiiid you talk to Mamoru yet?"

"Yesh, ee uffer day I-"

"Usagi, chew, swallow _then talk_. Gross."

Gulp. "Yes, the other day I went over to get my locket back..."

"That was the pretense anyway!" Minako said, wagging her eyebrows.

"Uh, sure. The pre-tents. Anyway, he was so happy that I remembered! We-"

"Kissed." Minako wagged her brows again.

_"Hugged_, Minako. And then we spent a really long time -"

"Making out." Minako's eyebrows were ready to fall off at this point.

"TALKING. MINAKO. GOD. _TALKING_." Usagi flushed then mumbled, "mostly," under her breath.

"Okay, enough torturing Usagi," Makoto said, before Minako could pounce.

"I found a movie to watch," she said, popping a tape into the VCR.

The girls snuggled together on the sofa as the light flickered across their faces.

For now, Tokyo was at peace.

For now, they had their princess.

For now, everything was right in the world.

"USAGI! Could you chew a little quieter!? You are like a cow."

"REI! That's so meeeaaan! I am NOT a cow!"

"I didn't say you WERE a cow a said you chewed like a cow!"

"How would you even know, when is the last time you heard a cow chew?"  
"Just now! When you ate that dango!"

"MEEEAAAAAAAAAANnnnn!"


End file.
